A tale of two fruitcakes

Anna Yi, co-owner of Manmi Bakery, holds a fruitcake her Korean bakery in Garden Grove specializes in. During the holidays, some of her regular customers order as many as 10 to 20 cakes at a time, she says. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

This is a tale of two fruitcakes, Southern California style.

We promise to refrain from any jokes about California being the land of fruits and nuts, but we are here to help you with that grand celebration of National Fruitcake Day, which is December 27.

We know, it was news to us, too. But we figured you might want to celebrate it locally, what with locavore being a national foodie trend, so we did a little investigating (read: Google search).

There are at least two options for your Fruitcake Day festivities, and they both landed on our shore in 1985.

Your first option is for those of us (OK, the majority of people) who don't dig the sticky several-pound mass of dried fruit and nuts bought in round tins printed with holiday pictures.

Friends, we give you the Korean fruit cake, a delightful dish of sponge cake, custard and fresh fruit, layered up on a platter and covered with whipped crème. It's like the gussied-up, grown-up version of strawberry shortcake, with the addition of pineapple, kiwi and mandarin oranges.

At the Manmi Bakery in Garden Grove, Anna Yi sells two sizes, at $18 or $25. The cake is not specifically designed for Christmas, but rather for special occasions, like birthdays, she said.

"Each store has different kinds," Yi said. "Ours is more like an American-style. Other bakeries have a French style."

The French style has more fruit inside, but just a bit of fruit on the top of the cake, looking more like a Western-style cake, she said.

The cakes are not traditionally Korean, said Sejung Kim, assistant director of the UCLA Center for Korean Studies. The cakes grew popular in Korea in the 1980s, when people fell in love with the whipped cream icing, she said.

"Traditional Korean cakes are made of rice, not wheat flour," Kim said. "Now rice cake bakeries try new designs with fruits and other ingredients. They look like Western-type cakes."

The Manmi (literal translation, 10,000 tastes) bakery, at 8942 Garden Grove Blvd., was started when Yi's father-in-law, Chang Yi, arrived in Orange County in 1985. The store is now run by Chang Yi's son, Dong, and his wife, Anna. The cakes are popular with other Asian groups in Orange County, Anna Yi said, including the Vietnamese, Japanese and Samoans.

"You have it as dessert," she said. "It's sweet, but not too sweet. It's soft, it has a lot of fruit. But it is also beautiful."

Yi has sold many of the cakes as an accompaniment for Christmas dinners, and the store will be open Christmas day from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Anna Yi, co-owner of Manmi Bakery, holds a fruitcake her Korean bakery in Garden Grove specializes in. During the holidays, some of her regular customers order as many as 10 to 20 cakes at a time, she says. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Manmi Bakery's small, left, and large-sized fruitcakes are popular with the Garden Grove bakery's regular customers. The prices for the cakes have not substantially changed in 10 years says co-owners Anna and Dong Yi. The small cake is priced at $18. The larger size sells for $25. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Early in the fruitcake-making process, Manmi Bakery co-owner Dong Yi spreads custard over the bottom layer of his cakes. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Dong Yi tops the bottom layer of fruitcakes with strawberries and kiwifruit. Pineapple chunks will also be added. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
With the addition of pineapple chunks, over the strawberries and kiwifruit, the cakes' fruity middle sections are now complete. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Dong Yi of Manmi Bakery tops all the fruit in the middle of the cakes with whipped cream. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Manmi Bakery co-owner/baker Dong Yi spins a fruitcake on a turntable while spreading whipped cream over the cake. Manmi is a Korean bakery located in Garden Grove. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A decorative band is added to the fruitcakes at Manmi Bakery, a Korean bakery in Garden Grove. The bakery has customers who order 10 to 20 cakes at a time during the holidays. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Baker/co-owner Anna Yi begins decorating the tops of Manmi Bakery's fruitcakes with fresh fruit. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kiwifruit for a fruitcake's top layer is sliced up at Manmi Bakery. They will be added to the fruitcake the Korean bakery in Garden Grove is known for. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A bright topping of kiwifruit, mandarin oranges, pineapple and a cherry top Manmi Bakery's fruitcake. Baker/co-owners Anna and Dong Yi team up to create the bakery's popular cake. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Fruit is brushed with a glaze to preserve the texture and shine on top of the Korean fruitcakes, says Manmi Bakery co-owner Anna Yi. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Brushing with a glaze helps keep Manmi Bakery's fruitcakes top layer appealing, says Manmi Bakery co-owner Anna Yi. The Garden Grove bakery creates an untraditional fruitcake. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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